Ask HN: How much would you pay for a hyphen (domain name)?
I'm planning to start a business called, let's say, Icarus Systems (it's in the aviation sector). I've already bought icarussystems.com, but I really wanted icarus-systems.com as it's prettier and more legible, if more difficult to remember.
It turns out that icarus-systems.com is owned by a medium-sized company who just redirects it to their main site, say paperclips.com. I got in touch with their CEO, and it turns out they acquired a small company called Icarus and that's how they ended up with the name.
Long story short - they're asking 5000 US$ for the domain name I want. That's a month or two of runway for me. I've tried haggling the price down to no avail. Would you pay that much for a hyphen?
I'm not worried about their icarus-systems.com getting more Google rank because in the long run the term Icarus doesn't even appear on paperclips.com. It's more of a cosmetic issue in my mind....
12 comments
[ 3.1 ms ] story [ 37.4 ms ] threadHonestly, that name is in no way critical to your business; you should be more than willing to let it go.
I'd say forget it. You can find a better name without "systems" altogether. Think about what defines your product or service uniquely. The name will come to you.
I'd dump the "systems" and come up with a name that you can buy a one-word domain for, if at all possible (nothing too cutesie), and it's not too late or too expensive. Better to get a company name that's unique enough you can own all domain variants of it, including the one that's just [name].com.
Assuming they don't, you could get started without the hyphenated form. Your trademark would eventually make their hyphenated version unusable by anyone else, and then you might be able to get it more cheaply.
A domain name is important but not that important, try to make it short and pronounceable.
hyphens don't help, if I can't get the name with and without the hyphen I normally don't bother anyway.
This technique seems to be underused on the web, and I don't know why this is - perhaps no-one knows you can do this?
That said, $5k is not a lot of money. If you've got the cash and you want it, just buy it and move on with your life. If its not worth $5k to you just move on - its not going to make or break your business.
I was contacted about a month ago by a company that wanted it, and they offered $1000 US, which I rapidly agreed to.
I wasn't intentionally squatting it, it was one of those domains I registered on a whim for a personal project that I grew moderately attached to over time, but never did anything with.
The company I work for spent a bit of money protecting the namespace around our most recent product, and based on our CTO's experience buying unused and squatted domains, I say: walk away. Leave off with an email "If you ever want to get rid of it for $x, I will pay you that afternoon." Either they're willing to sell and will take you up on it, or are more interested in a cash grab and won't.